Should I buy electronic drums???
Home > Home Recording Forum > Gear Gab > Should I buy electronic drums???
Posted on Dec 07, 2005 01:46 am
net_boy
Member Since: Dec 05, 2005
I own a Mapex v-series 5 piece acoustic drum set. I read in a post that some people say you can't really hear the difference in recording when you use electronic drums.(to an extent i guess)
I am a beginner drummer and would like to record my own drums and not use software or drum machines etc.
What do you guys recon...stay with the acoustic set(I have no drum mics) or sell and buy a elec kit?
And also, I am not familiar with elec drums. Where can I get the lowdown on how the work, how you record them etc. and how electronic drum modules work??? If I buy a kit can I change the module I use?
Thx, any advice will be appreciated
[ Back to Top ]
Dec 07, 2005 03:48 am You should do nothing of the sort!
Stay with your acoustic set dude! Nothing beats the feeling of bashing real drums eh? There is a massive difference between the sounds IMO. Although I have taken a liking to the various pieces that have utilised Drum Kit From Hell...
With recoroding elec. kits, you take the line outs and plug them in to your cards line ins basically. You can also record MIDI data to trigger other samplers inside your computer if you don't like your kit's sounds.
You should be able to change modules, but check what pads they are built for first. The only elec drum kit pads I've seen are the TRS kind, so there can't be that many?
Dec 07, 2005 06:01 am I have a set of electronic drums and like them a lot. You can tell the difference sometimes, but sometimes nothing beats a drum kit with a volume knob...whether or not you can tell the difference depends entirely on the system you choose and the quality of the triggers and samples that are used. Some triggers have better velocity sensitivity than others, some have more or less triggers within them, that meaning if you hit the pads in different places (such as the center or the edge) it will trigger different sounds (like the cymbal crash or the bell of the cymbal). Like everything in life, quality is variable. I really dig my electronic kit, and it's a relatively simple Hart Dynamics kit.
I am not sure about anyone else here, but sometimes the route taken can't always be judged by only what gives the best sound, but other factors of life as well...I don't have the room, the house or the motivation to have a full size acoustic drum kit and all the mics for it taking up space...I find it much more convenient for my whole family to have my little electronic kit that the kids can play with as well.
Dec 07, 2005 07:29 am I will testify to the quality of Electronic Drum Kits...
OldDog from this very site uses a TD6?? (may have that wrong) and it sounds immense. The quality is superb and if I let ya hear the recoridngs (which I will do soon as Im posting up a song featuring the kit), you will be hard pressed to hear the difference.
In fact, if you check out OldDogs songs, I believe he used his TD6 on most of his new songs..very good indeed.
I am a guitarist and used to be an acoustic purist at ALL times...having been recording and generally involved in music production using electronic means for a good while now, my attitude has changed..... a lot! I've heard synthisised this/that/the other on here and off and I can say, things have moved on.
Dont get me wrong, I do prefer acoustic gear wherever it suits but be in no doubt...electronic gear DOES sound the part these days (obviously better the gear, the better sound and generally the more it costs but aye, its certainly sounding good now).
Cheers
Coco.
Dec 07, 2005 07:32 am Noize has a TD6 as well, VERY nice kit.
GeoffSM7b the Chuck Noris of Mic'sContributor
Since: Jun 20, 2002
Dec 07, 2005 08:42 am I've been a drummer for 10 years and I was all about my acoustic set (i still love it) ,but about 3 years ago i bought an electric kit and man things changed. It's sooo much easier to record , you don't have to worry about mic placment or phase issues. You can have dozens of kits from great acoustic sets to crazy industrial sounds. I've recorded with both and to be honest most bands I record opt for the electric over there own kit's (crazy huh). Right now I'm getting ready to sell my Tama and get a new Roland set (i don't gig anymore so my sets taking up room). As for feel, there is a difference not a hug one and on most of the moderatly priced kit's you can adjust the mesh head tension like you would with an acoustic set. Cymbals are the bigest difference and they are minimal . I'd say go check out a fe sets mess with them (the pre set kits are ok but you need to edit to get better sound) , see for you self.
zekthedeadcowEat Spam before it eats YOU!!!Member
Since: May 11, 2002
Dec 07, 2005 09:06 am I would keep the acoustic kit and invest in triggers. Then if you play someplace that has no PA you won't need to worry much and to be quiet mesh heads will cover an entire kit for about $40
Atleast in my area you're not going to sell an acoustic kit for much... my local Music Go Round has some pretty nice kits at $300... the not so nice ones are starting at $150.
petrusoaudio snobMember
Since: Jan 02, 2005
Dec 07, 2005 01:37 pm My brother-in-law just got the roland td-20 set and says it's the best drum set he's ever played. That thing can sound EXACTLY like an acoustic set, but it can also take drum sounds to another universe. I don't play the drums, but I'm seriously thinking about getting the td20 module just to use it as a sound module. I really don't want to pay 6 grand for the set, but I'll take the sounds for 1800 any day of the week.
Josh RoseJR ProductionsMember
Since: Mar 03, 2005
Dec 07, 2005 02:22 pm I have to say, once you get into the nicer elec. kits like the TD-20, it is very hard to tell the difference.
I do have something against the cheaper 600 to 800$ range. They just dont sound believable and they arent any fun to play. I would much rather just program drums than play a kit like that.
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Dec 07, 2005 03:35 pm I have a Roland TD6S kit that I've been very happy with. With an experienced drummer (which I'm not ;) you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between it and an acoustic set. Moving up to the TD10 thru TD20 unless you see them played you cannot tell the difference.
Electronic kits are more convienient, easier to record and get a good sound, and are more neighbor friendly. :D It does still take some time to learn how to mix them and tweak the kits but once you do it's pretty easy sailing. When I compare the sounds I was getting when I first started to now I'm getting much closer sounding to an acoustic kit, like everything it takes a bit work but the rewards are worth it.
Even the Roland TD3 kit (~$700-$800) (Roland is all I'm familiar with) has very convincing sounds and now comes with a mesh head snare which I would recommend, whatever you get make sure at least the snare is a mesh head type.
Dan
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Dec 07, 2005 08:04 pm Yep, as dB stated I also have the TD6 module along with and Alesis DM5 and software drum kits as well the like's of Velocity, DrumCore, and several others for differant genre's and style's. My Roland trigger kit is a modified TD6S kit with Hart Dynamics Cymbal triggers. The snare, hi hat, ride, hart cymbal's and one tom all use dual zone pad's which dB refered to for more realistic drumming. As a hole the kit has enough trigger's for snare, 2 kicks, 5 tom's, the hat and 3 other cymbal's. And I also use a hi hat pedal as well for a more realistic feel on the hat's. I can arrange the trigger's if I need more cymbal or whatever. Although any drummer's that have come and played it are usually more then pleased with it. The TD6 of course is only 2 channel's out analog, but my Alesis is 8 out as well as my Emu Proteus which has some kicken drum sound's. And the software, well that is another story, the only one with limited outputs is DrumCore but that one has so many tweaks I can do in the software I reelly dont need it to have mutli channel out capability.
But ya, a real drum kit is nice, but in my case as well as many other's it just isnt practical.
Dec 11, 2005 06:21 pm Personally, I wouldn't give up the acoustic set if it's a decent kit.
